The Patriots announced Jerod Mayo’s promotion to head coach last Friday, but opted not to schedule his introductory press conference for another five days.

Why the delay?

Sure, there was the holiday weekend. There’s also this: Mayo, more than ever, is a busy man.

Starting Friday, Mayo and the Krafts began to address the reorganization of the Patriots’ coaching staff and front office in the post-Bill Belichick era. Mayo has already rolled up his sleeves, reportedly setting up interviews to find his first defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator. But his hardest work, the decisions that will set into motion a successful Mayo era or a failed succession plan, are coming fast.

Mayo must fix the three positions that failed Belichick at the end of his legendary run: offensive coordinator, quarterback and head of personnel.

The Patriots are not expected to hire a general manager — something the Krafts have never done in their ownership — and are leaning toward waiting until after the draft to officially name a new leader of their front office. Meanwhile, director of player personnel Matt Groh and director of scouting Eliot Wolf will continue to lead that department, though it’s unclear who will have final say over the roster in Belichick’s place. Only the Krafts can answer that question (and hopefully will Wednesday), but don’t underestimate Mayo’s influence in selecting the next de facto GM.

As for hiring an offensive coordinator, that should all be Mayo. The Patriots have not yet announced a search, but if they do, expect it to be a strategic process with familiar players. There’s current offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien and Josh McDaniels, who has been in the area for weeks and could have his own decision to make: picking the Patriots or a job with whichever team Belichick leads next.

New England Patriots assistant coach Jerod Mayo looks on from the sidelines during a Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023 game in Foxboro. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

O’Brien may face the same choice, though until a search is announced or conducted, should be seen as the favorite to keep his current job. Now, how Mayo balances his own search against Belichick’s — not to mention massaging the egos involved — will be an early test of his leadership and draw as a new head coach. Even if O’Brien and McDaniels don’t inspire the fan base as retread choices, they possess the exact experience Mayo and the Patriots should covet in their next offensive coordinator: having developed a first-round rookie starting quarterback.

Who will that quarterback be? Who knows. USC’s Caleb Williams finally declared for the draft Monday, but he and North Carolina’s Drake Maye may both be gone before the Patriots pick third overall. Whether it’s one of them, LSU’s Jayden Daniels or a mystery candidate under center next September, Mayo must find a way to connect with that player.

The coach-quarterback relationship is more a partnership than it’s ever been, and Mayo must know his fate is tied to his next quarterback. It was no accident the Belichick era sunk with a Mac Jones-sized hole in its hull. Their relationship broke, then the team did.

Now, back to the easy stuff.

Jerod Mayo reportedly offers to keep Bill Belichick’s sons on Patriots staff

Mayo reportedly set up an interview with Panthers linebackers coach Tem Lukabu for his defensive coordinator job, a move that will satisfy the new Rooney Rule mandating teams meet with at least one external, minority candidate during coordinator searches. The timing of Lukabu’s interview could indicate a few things: Mayo is prioritizing coaches with experience outside of New England or staffers with similar backgrounds (Lukabu is an ex-linebacker who worked under Greg Schiano, a Belichick confidant, for four seasons). Or, Mayo is already prepared to move on his next defensive coordinator.

Because as soon as Lukabu sits down, Mayo could, hypothetically, promote defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington into that role. Covington interviewed for the Cardinals’ defensive coordinator job last year and has designs on becoming a head coach one day. Covington’s players can already see him in a leadership role.

That doesn’t necessarily mean Lukabu’s sitdown will be a sham interview, something Mayo, a fellow Black coach, would surely be sensitive to. Mayo may want Lukabu for another job and prefer to meet him under the pretense of a coordinator interview that doubles as the first step toward hiring him as the linebackers coach. Lukabu’s experience coaching linebackers totals more than a decade, and he’s also worked with defensive linemen and defensive backs.

A coach like Lukabu would be an obvious asset on a Patriots coaching staff that’s leaned young and inexperienced for years.

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Mayo saw Belichick use last year’s offensive coordinator search to fulfill this dual purpose. Before hiring O’Brien, Belichick picked the brains of wide receivers coaches Keenan McCardell and Shawn Jefferson. He interviewed Adrian Klemm, whom he later hired to be the Patriots’ offensive line coach. Belichick conducted his search in accordance with the Rooney Rule, but played by his own rules as he made the process work for him.

Would it be a surprise if Mayo mimicked Belichick in this way? Of course not.

He was once the player they called “Jerod Belichick.”

He is now Belichick’s successor.

And soon, pending a few critical choices in the coming months, Mayo will either become the coach that fixed the Patriots or a young upstart who suffered from the same problems that doomed the greatest of all time.